Hay drying machine



April 22, 1952 Q ADAMS 2,593,401

I HAY DRYING MACHINE Filed July 8, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 2 4 12 Ills-.1. 12 El EH2 1 I:

14 7' raix ys April22, 1952 B. c. ADAMS HAY DRYING MACHINE 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed July 8, 1949 mmiML. l ,1

' INVENTOR. Ben/vs C flan/vs Patented Apr. 22, 1952 U NITED s TAT r. s ear sen-T oFF-ic E.

HAY-DRYIN G MACHINE BerneC. Adams, Mehoopany; Pa.

Application July 8, 1949,'Serial Nc.103,678

2 :Claims.

This invention relates to drying apparatus, and

more particularly 1 to an apparatus for drying various types of' agricultural products, .such. as

hay; grain, alfalfa, and the like.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved drying machine for "agricultural produ'ctswhich is-simple in construction, efiicie'nt in operation, andwhichisextremely economical in utilization offuel.

A further object of theinvention is to. pro,- vide an improved hay-drying machine whichis inexpensive to construct, resistant to weather conditions, and which has a large capacity 'whereby' substantial quantities of hay orsimilar agricultural products may be quickly. dried with a' minimum amount of manual labor.

Further objects andvadvantages of the inven.' tion-' will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompany ing drawings, I wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a: hay-dryingmachine constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken on line- 2 4* of- Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the machine of Figure l;

Figure '4 is a cross sectionalview taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5-is-a cross-sectional view line 55"of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view line fi -iifiof Figure 2;

Figure7"is a cross-sectional view line" (-4 of' Figure 2;

Figure 8is a cross-sectional view taken on line 8-8 01 Figure 2;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary elevational detail view taken on line 9-9 of Figure 2;

Figure 10 is a perspective detail view of one of the agitator vane elements of the machine of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, II designates a generally cylindrical vertical housing which may be made of sheet metal or the like, said housing being provided with a conical roof, shown at I2. Designated at I3 are guy wires or cables securing the housing II in vertical position. A suitable number of such guy wires or cables may be employed, whereby the housing will withstand wind forces without overturning.

Secured in the top portion of housing II is a horizontal partition I4, and secured in the lower portion ofsaid housing is a horizontal plate member I5. Upper and lower bearings I6 and I! taken on taken on taken on are provided centrally of the partition I4 and plate member I 5, respectively, and rotatably supported in said bearings is a vertical shaft I8, which is axially located inside the housing II. Designated at I9 are-successive funnel-shaped axial chambers or baffles connected at their lower ends to horizontal, annular wall sections 20, concentrically spaced from the sidewall oi the housing I I. The top chamber or baflle I9'is secured at its upper end to thehousing I I by an annular top horizontal wall section 2|. The remaining chambers' I9 are mounted in-the housing II by circumferentially spaced radial horizontal struts 22 radiating from and located in the planes of the wall sections 29. The lower end "of' the lowermost chamber I9 is connected to the'top wall of a horizontal, transversely elongated chamber 23, carried on the plate member I5 and opening at one end through the side of thehousing' II. Both theplate member I5 and the chamber 23 have their opposite sides spaced from the sidewallof the housing H. The wall sections 20 partially close the larger upper ends of the chambers or baflles, as shown in Figure 2.

Designated at His a hay feed pipe whose up per portion passes downwardly through the roof I2 and the upper partition wall I4 and terminates: at one side of the open upper end of the uppermost chamber I9, as shown in Figure 2. Thehay or other material to be dried'is conveyed through the pipe 24into the drier by means of a blower or other suitable feeding means.

Mounted on partition wall I4 is an electric motor25 whose shaft iscoupled by a belt 26 to a-pulley 2'! carried'by the top'end oishaft I8. Shaft I 8 carries respective-agitator discs 28; each disc 28 being located in one of the chambers I9. Each disc is provided with a plurality of crossed upstanding radial raddles 29, as shown in Figure 10.

Designated at 30 is a suitable heating plant, such as a hot air furnace or the like. The outlet duct of furnace 30 is shown at 3|. Duct 3| enters the lower portion of housing II and terminates in an upwardly-facing, flared outlet nozzle 32 located beneath the plate l5. Extending through roof I2, top partition wall 14, and wall section 2! is a heat vent duct 33 having the top cap .34. The hot air, or other heating fluid, from furnace 30 rises around the sides of plate I5 and chamber 23 and rises through the housing, so as to heat the chambers I9, and exhausts to atmosphere through the vent duct 33. The hay or other material passes downwardly by gravity through the successive chambers I9 and is agitated and thrown against the sloping conical walls of said chambers by the agitator discs 28.

4! adjacent housing H. Shaft 39 carries a bevel 7 gear 4! which meshes with a bevel gear 42' carried on a horizontal shaft 43. Shaft 43 is rotat ably mounted in brackets 44, 44. motor 45 is provided adjacent housing ll whose shaft is coupled by a belt 46 to a pulley 41 carried on shaft 43.

The conveyor chain 35 is provided with outwardly-extending arms48 which engage the dried hay or similar forage material, dropping from the lowermost chamber 19 into the'chamber 23, and sweep the material outwardly through the chamber 23. The dried material may be collected in a suitable receptacle positioned adjacent the outlet end of said chamber.

While a specific embodiment of a hay-drying machine has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is: I

1. In a drier, a vertical cylindrical housing, a plurality of funnel-shaped chambers positioned axially in said housing, means securing said chambers to the sidewall of said housing in concentrically spaced relation thereto, said means being discontinuous around the chambers to provide for free passage of heat from the lower part of said housing to the upper part of said housing around said chambers, the larger upper ends of downwardly successive chambers being open to the smaller lower ends thereof whereby material deposited in the uppermost chambers can fall successively through said plurality of chambers, means in the upper part of said housing above the uppermost chamber for depositing material therein to be dried, means in the lower part of said housing for receiving dried material' from the lowermost chamber and conveying the dried material to the exterior of said housing, heating means in the lower part of said housing beneath said conveying means, a rotary shaft An electric extending vertically through the chambers, and an agitator positioned within each chamber intermediate the upper and lower ends thereof and connected to the adjacent portion of said shaft, the larger upper ends of some of said chambers having annular wall sections thereon forming partial closures for the upper ends of the chambers, said annular wall sections surrounding and being connected to the smaller lower ends of the next above chambers.

2. In a drier, a vertical cylindrical housing, a plurality of funnel-shaped chambers positioned axially in said housing, means securing said chambers to the sidewall of said housing in con- ,vide for free passage of heat from the lower part of said housing to the upper part of said housing around said chambers, the larger upper ends of downwardly successive chambers being open to the smaller lower ends thereof whereby material deposited in the uppermost chambers can fall successively through said plurality of chambers, means in the upper part of said housing above the uppermost chamber fordepositing material therein to be dried, means in the lower part of said housing for receiving dried material from the lowermost chamber and conveying'the dried material to the exterior of said housing, heating means in the lower part of said housing beneath said conveying means, said housing having mounted axially thereon a vertical rotary REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 803,424 Matcham Oct. 31, 1905 1,011,380 Sidwell Dec. 12, 1911 1,147,211 Coleman et a1. July 20, 1915 1,653,332 Baechler Dec. 20, 1927 

